Attention: Party DIYers! I’ve got the key to a large scale party backdrop accessory that makes a big impact and is affordable and it’s made with foam sheets and paper napkins! Keep reading for more step by step instructions on how to make a DIY Foam Number for any party theme.
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My very good friend (also a crafty mom named Tara!) just turned 40! While she was hosting the party at her house, her family, our fellow bestie mom, Amy and I wouldn’t let her do any of the party prep or decor so we stepped in.
I’ve seen those fun large scale foam letters and numbers before and decided to give it a try!
DIY Foam Number Supplies:
- Large Foam Sheets (each number took 2 sheets which I got at Dollar Tree!)
- Paper Napkins (both these numbers took 1 pack of lunch napkins from Party City)
- Large Ruler
- Hot Glue Gun and Sticks
- Craft Knife
- Pencil
I’ve seen a lot of places on pinterest and etsy that offer printable templates you can download, assemble and use for these large scale numbers but I just decided to draw my own right on the boards. Tip: replace your blade for crisp cuts!
Now it’s time to start building the sides of your DIY Foam Number. Mine were all 4 inches wide but you could easily make your own widths.
For curved shapes, like in the number 0, use a pencil to make marks every inch along your 4 inch wide foam piece. Use a craft knife and ruler to slice along the mark, making sure to not go through the piece completely. This will allow you to easily curve your piece, as seen above.
Use hot glue to attach these straight and curved sides along the edge of your template to create the shell of your DIY foam number.
Next, stuff with your colorful material of choice. I most often see these with small 5″ balloons but I was working to make this in advance of our spring break trip, so I decided to fill it with napkins! Yep, I bought a large pack of 2 ply lunch napkins, unplied them all while watching tv on night, then scrunched and glued them into the number shell.
The number 4 isn’t the most stable shape when standing alone, so I created these stands. On party day, we simply taped the stands on the back and used river rocks on the flat party to stay.
How awesome do these look at the party?
And here’s a photo reference of the birthday girl (hey, it’s 2 crafty Taras!) standing next to these large scale party pieces.
If you couldn’t tell the party theme was simply “purple” and “40” so this DIY Balloon Arch was the perfect match for the selfie station. I got the kit off Amazon and loves the mix of matte, metallic, and confetti filled purple balloons, all with the included balloon strip. We used the same method as we did for my party 35th anniversary to include photos in the backdrop on ribbon strips.
This is your final push to try a DIY foam number decor piece since this piece of large scale party decor cost around $10 to make! See it in action on my instagram reel!
A few weeks later this same number 40 was transformed for another birthday when they borrowed my bases and added their own black napkins in it!
I made another a year later using black foam board. Tip: The Dollar Tree boards still have a white core so the edges can easily be covered with a Sharpie! See it made here on my instagram!
That original 0 was borrowed AGAIN and new black and gold napkins were added with a brandy new number 7 I made with the same technique! And yep, you can see me make it again on THIS instagram reel!
Tara and I also used these same steps to create a cross shape with coffee filters inside for her daughter’s communion the following year! See that in progress on THIS instagram reel!
Check out the back to school photo backdrop version I made wrapped in Oly Fun!
On a sentimental note, I created a cross stitch portrait of her family of 6 using the Stitch People reference book I’ve used many times in the past. Special thanks to my friends at Custom Picture Frames for partnering with me on this piece, including this gifted Magano style mahogany wood frame. Use code SPOTOFTEADESIGNS20 to get 20% off your custom framing order!
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